{"id":348121,"date":"2026-09-17T21:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348121"},"modified":"2026-09-17T21:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:19:20","slug":"irans-regime-moves-to-erase-gohardasht-prison-a-key-crime-scene-of-the-1988-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/irans-regime-moves-to-erase-gohardasht-prison-a-key-crime-scene-of-the-1988-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran’s Regime Moves to Erase Gohardasht Prison, a Key Crime Scene of the 1988 Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Iranian authorities have begun demolishing Gohardasht Prison<\/a> in Karaj, one of the principal sites of the 1988 massacre<\/a> of political prisoners, raising urgent concerns that evidence potentially relevant to future investigations and prosecutions could be permanently destroyed. The demolition began on September 13, with officials saying the former prison site would be cleared for development and its surrounding walls removed within a month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gohardasht occupies a central place in the documentary record of the 1988 killings. Survivors have described<\/a> its cells, corridors, torture chambers and notorious \u201cDeath Hall,\u201d while testimony and detailed reconstructions of the prison later became important evidence in Sweden\u2019s prosecution of former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury. The prison\u2019s destruction also follows allegations of interference with burial sites connected to political executions elsewhere in Iran, a pattern previously raised by a U.N. special rapporteur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the following commentary, J. Kenneth Blackwell, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, argues that the United Nations must act before potentially significant physical and documentary evidence disappears. The article was originally published by the Washington Examiner<\/a> on September 17, 2026, and is republished below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Iran is bulldozing a crime scene \u2014 and the UN is standing by<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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By Ken Blackwell<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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2\/4 | Prison Walls to Be Gone Within a Month<\/p>\n

Prisons Organization chief Heydar Asiabi said the demolition was ordered by the judiciary chief and that all surrounding walls would be demolished within a month, clearing the site for residential and commercial development. pic.twitter.com\/UwnX41jwIM<\/a><\/p>\n

— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) September 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n